between the drinks and subtle things
by pariswindspeed
Summary: The one where Damon's housedad; cooks, cleans, and enthralls Caroline. damon/caroline, with stefan/elena. partially AU.


Point? No point. Basically, my desire for Damon to be a housedad. Though, I'm less than impressed in how it turned out.

Title from We Are Young by Fun.

* * *

><p><strong>between the drinks and subtle things.<strong>

Caroline is restless while everyone else is sleeping.

In a big, big house in the woods right outside of Mystic Falls, she tosses and turns in bed. There's a groan beside her and a muffled complaint. She ignores both.

The bitch in her almost wakes the other two so she doesn't have to suffer insomnia alone. But the bigger, better person inside of her feels compassion for them. _Let them sleep, Care, _the rational voice tells her.

So she lies on her back and listens to their even breathing; both men pushed against each side of her. At least she doesn't have to worry about getting cold.

Damon's arm is thrown over her torso, fingers gently playing with the material of her tank top in his sleep. She feels the heat from his body against hers and prays it will lull her to sleep.

But it doesn't. Nor does Tyler's obnoxious snoring. She makes a mental note to buy him a nose strip or buy herself some ear buds next time she's in town. Caroline also makes a mental note to _not _sleep in the middle anymore.

This is _not_ the first time she's been unable to sleep.

–;

Around four she decides to get out of bed. Which is a task in itself. Even worse than a bitchy Damon is a bitchy Damon woken from slumber. And she doesn't want to deal with that. So she will manage. She lightly untangles herself from Damon's grasp and slides out of the covers. In a swift movement, she jumps over Tyler's sleeping form and lands softly on the hardwood floor. She kisses Tyler's head gingerly before leaving.

The house is cold and at its creepiest at night. She walks barefoot through the always drafty house. She hugs herself to keep heat – her tank top and boy shorts not keeping her warm.

She walks into the living room and decides she'll build a fire. After much difficulty, in which she tries to stay as quiet as possible in order to keep from waking anyone – especially Bonnie, Alaric, and Elena; they're such light sleepers – she has a fire built. She wraps herself in one of Stefan's favorite blankets and sits in a chair by the fire.

She watches the embers spark from the flames and float up the chimney. The flames accentuate the room, casting light on the bookcase, creating a reflection in the windows. She notices a book on the shelf – it's old and dusty and she can smell the age from where she's sitting. But it's mysterious, and Caroline has just enough curiosity to walk over and retrieve the book.

Once she has it in her hands she realizes it's not just a book, it's a diary. She unwinds the string keeping it closed and flips open the cover. It's Damon's. Caroline chuckles before she sits back down and starts reading.

–;

When morning comes, Caroline's still by the fire. Well, what was a fire has now died down to nothing but burnt wood and ash. She's awakened by someone shaking her shoulders. She opens her eyes and sees Elena's pretty face, surrounded by rays of sunshine.

"Morning sleepyhead." She smiles. "Sharing a bed not working out so well?" Elena chuckles when Caroline shakes her head sleepily. She faintly hears Elena mutter something to someone as she leaves.

Caroline, eyes closed, yawns and stands up to stretch. Her tank top rises up to show her bare stomach when she does so.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jeremy laughs from the couch where he's been reading, "Too much skin, Care. Too much."

Caroline's eyes shoot open and she tosses a throw pillow at his head, "Shut up, Jer." She laughs, before gathering Damon's diary and walking back to her room. She hears Jeremy shout something about chocolate chip pancakes almost being done as she walks away.

As she walks back through the house to her room, she thinks that sounds delicious. As long as Stefan's making them. His are always best.

–;

She walks into her room and sees the bathroom door open and hears the shower running. Damon's the only one who ever leaves the door open while he's showering. She remembers him saying something about it standing for an open invitation.

She thinks maybe she'll have to take him up on the offer. Someday.

Anyway.

She walks over to the bed and finds Tyler, still sleeping, under the big pile of white comforter and white sheets. She laughs quietly before trailing her fingers down his spine playfully and walking away.

She walks to the other side of the bed and sits, laying the diary on the nightstand. She waits for Damon to emerge from the bathroom. When he does, he has the towel wrapped loosely around his waist and he's running a hand through his hair.

Caroline bites her lip. (She's _really _going to have to take him up on his offer.)

He looks up and sees her staring, smiles widely before walking over and popping a quick kiss on her lips. "You know, Care," he says as he walks to his dresser to find a shirt and boxers, "you really gotta stop leaving the bed in the middle of the night. I'm tired of waking up with Tyler three inches away from spooning me." He drops his towel, and Caroline used to blush when she saw him naked, but now she _almost _barelynotices, and pulls on his boxers. "I'm not into guys, babe." He walks over, pulling his shirt on on the way, and stands between her legs, pushes some hair behind her ears. "I'm into you." He kisses her on the mouth for the longest.

When he pulls away, she's smiling. "Sorry, I couldn't sleep," she says sweetly.

"Well, maybe we need a bigger bed." He says as he retreats to the closet to pull on a pair of jeans. "Or," he pauses. "We could just kick the dog out."

Tyler's voice from behind Caroline only startles her a little. "I heard that, dick." Caroline turns around slightly and smiles at his remark. Damon smirks when he walks back into the room pulling on his jeans, "good."

Caroline simply rolls her eyes and remembers what she was waiting on before Damon distracted her. "Oh, Damon! Look what I found when I was up late last night." She holds the diary up in the air, and with a smirk she asks, "Does this belong to you?"

"Dude, is that a _diary?_" A deep laugh rumbles through Tyler. Damon throws something off of the nightstand at Tyler; he dodges it. "It _totally is._" Caroline laughs and watches Damon's face.

"You know, Damon. It's okay. I'm _totally _into the whole romantic language." She giggles, stands, and kisses him sweetly on his jaw to let him know that she's just kidding around.

His face softens and he drops a kiss to her forehead and says something about how she better be glad she's cute.

She walks into the bathroom to shower and can faintly hear both of them bickering back and forth as she turns on the hot water. "Oh, boys," she rolls her eyes. And is glad the water drowns them out.

–;

After showering Caroline walks downstairs to the kitchen. She can smell the pancakes and warm syrup before she's even at the doorway.

When she walks over to the table, it's all smiles and _good morning!_ and Jeremy's "finally!". She mimics him and laughs while taking a seat beside Elena and Bonnie.

She hungrily accepts the platter full of pancakes Tyler passes to her from across the table. She takes three and drowns them in syrup, smiles when Elena takes a big bite out of one, and laughs at Stefan's look of disgust. It's the usual when Stefan jokingly swats away Elena when she tries to give him a kiss with syrup covered lips.

"So Tyler tells me you found Damon's old diary. How'd that happen?" Alaric says to Caroline.

"He's telling _everyone_." Damon says with bite as he rolls his eyes at Tyler.

Caroline laughs and tells how her insomnia led her to the bookshelf. She tells everyone some of the anecdotes she remembers from the diary, and in the middle of one she asks Stefan for verification, all the while Damon's face turns an almost tomato-y red color from embarrassment.

–;

After breakfast they're all reminded that it's a dreadful Monday and everyone has to go to school except Damon. He smirks because this is payback for the humiliation – he _doesn't have to go to school _he reminds them as he's ushering them out the front door.

But it's not really a win because he spends the rest of the day cleaning the house.

He starts with a mess of the girls' clothing accumulating on the stairs. He huffs and puffs while rolling his eyes at picking up their laundry. He takes each of their clothes to their designated rooms (keeps a few of Caroline's nightgowns, tosses them on his bed for when she needs them) and whistles a casual tune while jogging back downstairs to finish his domestic duties.

The rugs are his worst cleanup. They're Persian, and doesn't anyone understand that? They can't handle the dirt from Jeremy's shoes or the blood from Tyler's roughhousing. They still don't understand, even after he lectures them for a good ten minutes on the importance and value of the rugs; Caroline's hand to mouth gesture signaled the comic relief everyone was getting out of him being so fired up.

Point? He still has to clean the rugs, on his hands and knees, once a week. Oh how tiring it is.

–;

When the boys come home from school Damon's nursing a glass of bourbon and reading the newspaper. They all come in joking about something; Tyler and Jeremy shoving, Stefan and Alaric _trying_ to discipline them.

As they scuffle into the living room, Damon stands, tosses the newspaper into the burning fire and walks to greet them. He bites back his instant remark for them to begin their studies. He is not their _dad._

Instead, "Where are the girls?" he asks by way of greeting. _Where's Care?_

"Why? Worried Carebear's off doing stuff without you? Need a hug?" Tyler mimics the voice of a toddler, which is all too annoying for Damon.

"Listen wolf boy, just because you're BFFs with Caroline and sad because you have _feelings, _and mommy doesn't want you and _boohoo, _does not mean I have to let you stay here, okay? I can have your ass out on the street before you can even blink. Got it?"

Damon's face is lacking any sort of evidence that he is at all kidding. And after a few awkward minutes of Damon's stoic posture and Tyler's interest in the floor, Jeremy speaks up.

"Girls are at cheer practice. Said they'd be home for dinner.." He says cautiously.

Damon gives him a curtly smile before walking away, brooding, with bourbon in tow.

–;

The boys have finished their studies and Alaric has prepared his notes for the next day's lesson. Damon demands they all pitch in with dinner, smiling triumphantly when he sees how stupid Tyler looks wearing Caroline's festive apron. He smudges a little flour on his nose from the breading Stefan's making for the chicken.

Jeremy laughs at these actions, mostly at Tyler's looks of dismay (though he doesn't argue because he knows Damon _will _put him out if he does, and he really _doesn't _have anywhere else to go), and admires Damon's lack of caring for when Tyler's had enough.

The girls arrive home right before dark and walk in wearing too short skirts and with rosy red cheeks from the cold. Bonnie comments on how good it smells and Alaric takes all the credit, ignores the scoffs he gets from the rest of the guys. Stefan engulfs Elena in a hug, rubbing soft circles on her back and whispering words in her ear. Jeremy rolls his eyes and finishes the preparations for the salad. Caroline walks over to Damon, kisses him sweetly on the corner of his mouth, plays with the hair at the back of his head. She kisses Tyler on his cheek and comments on how adorable he looks in her apron.

They all sit down to eat dinner, hands held for a short prayer that Caroline requires before every dinner, and talk about their day.

It's routine.

Jeremy, the little brother that he is, tells the girls about Damon and Tyler's _more than awkward encounter._

Later, when Caroline and Damon go to bed early, she lectures him about how Tyler needs to be surrounded by people who care, and _he's been going through a tough time, _and _he won't sleep in here forever, Damon._

He simply rolls his eyes and promises to apologize, kisses her sweet on the mouth before climbing in bed.

–;

Damon doesn't remember how he got roped into this. Just, one minute he was flipping pancakes for himself and Stefan, then the next he was making sure eight people had their glass of orange juice before sitting down for breakfast.

Now he has Caroline stealing chocolate chips from the batter when she wakes up early enough to join him while he cooks, Jeremy and Alaric running their fingers over the pages of every book on his bookshelf, Bonnie doing location spells upstairs because she's too lazy to call out Caroline's name when she can't find her, Stefan and Elena making the couch their new home where there's heated make-out sessions he tries to completely avoid, and Tyler sleeping in the same fucking bed as him because he's a little bitch.

This is not what he asked for. At all. But he's pretty sure he's okay with it now. Probably doesn't want it any other way. (Except for the Tyler in his bed part. Pretty sure he's fine with just Caroline.)


End file.
